Orienting apparatus for wells



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' Sept. 26, A1944.`

R. WARREN iii/@arm Hmm ORIENTING APPARATUS Fon wELLs Filed oct. 21, 1940 I RALPHINWREN Patented Sept. 26, 1944 @Hdl lill UWE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR WELLS Ralph Warren, Houston, Tex., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Houston Oil Field Material Company, Inc., a corporation of Texas Application October 21, 1940, Serial No. 362,079

2 Claims. 4('Cl. Z55-L6) l drilling or dellecting of the hole will occur at tgt the operator will be advised that the tool is oriented in the well bore.

Another object of the invention is to provide an orienting apparatus for drill stems which will release an accumulated pressure so as to signal vthe operator at the surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a signaling apparatus which can be so adjusted prior to lowering into the well bore so that a ball will move by gravity to the low side of the hole and indicate .atthesurface that the drill stem has been oriented.

Another object of the invention is to provide an orienting apparatus which can be made inactive by the pressure of the drilling mud through the drill stem after it has served its purpose of orienting the drill pipe.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accompanying drawing herein:

Figure 1 is the side elevation of a section of kdrilling pipe with certain parts shown in section and illustrating the orienting instrument as carried by the drill pipe.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the orienting instrument.

Figure 4 is a wiring diagram of the releasing connection for the orienting instrument.

In the drilling of well bores it is often desirable to deflect the well bore in a predetermined or desired direction so as to penetrate a productive formation. In other instances it is desirable to correct the inclination of a well bore where it has deviated from the vertical or from the desired direction. In both of the above instances a deecting tool or a whipstock is lowered into the well bore and oriented so as to continue the drilling in the desired direction. Most often the drilling is to continue along an inclination or at an angle with respect to the inclination of the well bore. 'This predetermined or desired direction is usually known to the operator and its orientation or relationship with respect to the low` side oi the hole is also known, and with this information at hand the present invention contemplates that the instrument may be adjusted so that the the desired oriented direction of the hole as a zero.

The equipment by which the invention is carried out is best seen in Figures 1 and 3, wherein 2 represents a drill stem section and -3 a drill collar or another drill stem section. A drill sub, 4, is shown as having been threaded between the sections 2 and 3 and this sub is specially constructed to provide a restricted neck or orifice lIi adjacent its upper end. Fixed in the passage or chamber I in the sub 4 is an orienting instrument 9 which is held in place by a bracket or arm Ill. This arm is best seen in section in Figure 2 where it is held in position fby a set screw I I.

The instrument 9 is seen in section in Figure 3 and includes the lower or base portion I5, and the head I6 which is slidably mounted on the reduced area I'I. At the upper end of the base I5, the

gli head I6 is held against sliding movement by a 26 so that movement of the core 26 retracts and extends the ends 2| relative to the Igroove 2U. A spring 21 normally supports the head I6 in eX- tended position above the base I5.

As seen in Figure 1, the head I 6 is of a size to fit snugly within the restriction 6 so that drilling mud passing down through the drill stem will be forced into the cup portion 30 and the bypass 3| so as to flow into the chamber 'I yand on downwardly to the drill bit.

It is desirable to build up a pressure in the drill stem 2 above the orienting instrument, and to this end a ball 32 will be dropped through the drill stem and be received in the cup 30. The pressure can then be built up in the drilling stem by the pumps at the surface so that there will be a tendency to move the head IB downwardly out of the restriction 6. The latch mechanism I8, however, prevents the downward movement of the head and as long as the pressure builds up in the drill stem the operator at the surface is aware of the fact that his drill stem has not been oriented.

In order to release the orienting mechanism and signal the operator by releasing the pressure in the drill stem, a contact mechanism has been provided in the base I5. 'I'his includes an electrical circuit seen in Figure 4 at y4|), wherein the battery 4I in the circuit is connected to a contact 42 on one side of the circuit and to a 2li. 'I'he parts thusvdescribed are seen in Figure3 A.

.theuncarriesthe Contact ,44-

The cup 48 is adjustably mounted in the base and can be fixed in position by a set screw 49.

When the operator desires to lower the device into the well he will set the instrument inside of the sub 4 with the cup 48 so adjusted thaftwlghe,`l`

is aware that the orientation `Contact 44 witlrespectrto'the'ui'rectirifthe incualtif deection of the whipstock, or deecting tool as the case may be, which is connected with the lower end of the drill section 3.

Thus if the operator desires to deflect the well at an angle of 90 degrees from the lower side of the hole, he will set the cup 48 in such an angular relationship with respect to the face of the whipstock or the direction fof the deilecting tool so that when the contact is at the low side of the hole the face or direction of the deecting tool will be 90 degrees therefrom and at the desired azimuth.

With the parts adjusted as directed, the drill stem will be lowered into the well bore without regard to its oriented or rotated position. If the well is to be washed or circulation established the drilling mud can be pumped through the bypass 3l. When it is desired then to orient Jthe tool, the ball 32 will be dropped into position to close the drill stem. The drill stem can now be turned slowly while the pump pressure is maintained. The ball 41 will roll along the low side The head I6, having moved out of the restriction V6, no longer serves as an obstruction to the flow of the drilling mud and the deecting operation can proceed as desired.

While the instrument is shown as lixed in the pipe prior to being lowered into the well :it seems obvious that a suitable seat or trackway could be provided in the pipe and a complementary portion on the instrument so that the instrument may be lowered, dropped or pumped through the pipe to such. seat when an orientation was desired.

Broadly, the invention contemplates arr automatic orienting device for drilling tools.

What is claimed is:

l. An orienting sub for a string of drill pipe having a fluid circulation passage forming a portion of the fluid passage of the drill string, means to restrict the flow of fluid in said passage, said restriction means beingmovable to a substantially non-restricting position, latch means to normally hold said restriction measlin restricting position, latch releasing means to release said restriction means for movement into non-restricting position, andpgravity responsive means constructed to actuate said ltcl'relse means when the gravity responsive means is at any set angular position relative to some significant part of the drill stem.

2. An orienting sub for a string of drill pipe having a iluid circulation passage forming a. portionof the uid passage of the drill string, means of the 'cup 48 as the drill stem is turned. When the contact 44 moves around underneath the low side of the ball 41, the circuit will be closed as the ball is riding on the contact 42. When the @lunas-r .Il

to restrict the flow of fluid in said passage, said restriction means being movable to a substantially non-restricting position, latch means to normally hold said restriction means in restricting position, latch releasing means to release said restriction means for movement into non-restricting position, gravity responsive means constructed to actuate said latch release means when the gravity responsive means is at any set angular position relative to some significant part of the drill stem, andfadditional means to close said restricting means against iiow therethrough during the orienting of the sub so that actuation of said latch to release said restricting means opens the passage and the release of fluid for flow through the passage can be observedv asman indi-u cation that the subis oriented.V

RALPH WARREN. 

